The Butterfly Circus:

“The Greater the Struggle, the More Glorious the Triumph”

Answer the questions and do the analysis exercise in KLASSBOKEN in TEAMS.

Lesson 1:

  1. Take a moment and think about the quote above. What do you think it means, and what do you expect the film to be about? Write a short answer in KLASSBOKEN.
  2. Watch the trailer of the movie. Watch the characters carefully, and try to figure out: What will the movie be about?

 

3. Would you like to add information to what you wrote in question number 1?

Read this background text, about the time and era of the film:

The story in the film is placed in USA during the 1930s, a time era also known as “the Great Depression”. It’s called “The Great Depression” since the value of money dropped very rapidly, leading to the banking system crashing. This meant that a lot of people lost all of their money, they lost their jobs and they lost their houses. No one had money and no one was making any money.

To make things even worse, the weather was so dry that farmers couldn’t grow enough food even to feed their own families, so they had very little to sell to others. People were starving and many had to leave their homes to find jobs and food elsewhere. Times were rough.

4. The film is called ”The Butterfly Circus”. Think of the lifespan of a butterfly. How it goes from egg to caterpillar to pupa to a beautiful free flying butterfly. How does the lifespan of a butterfly connect with the name of the circus, you think? What are you expecting to see in the film? Answer these questions in KLASSBOKEN. 

 

5. We will have group disussions about our thought so far. I will team you up in group rooms in TEAMS.

 

6. Watch the film. You will do this individual also, since the quality of the film will be better then. It might be wise to take notes as you do so, since you are to do a film analyses afterwards. If you want to, you may read up on question number 7 beforehand, and also open the dokument about film analysis and read it before watching. It might help you focus on the right things.

 

 

7. After watching/ comprehension:

How would you describe these characters:

Rubber man, Strong man, Queen of the Air, Boy, Mr. Mendez, Limbless man

Write down a few adjectives that would describe these characters both on the outside and on the inside. What do they look like and how are they as people? Write in KLASSBOKEN.

8. We will have group disussions about our thought so far. I will team you up in group rooms in TEAMS.

9. Now – Practice film analysis Open up the document and try as best you can to do a full film analysis. Write in KLASSBOKEN.

 

Useful words:

WHO:

Protagonist                              The main character in a film.

Antagonist                               The enemy of the protagonist.

Character                                 A person in a film.

Narrator                                   The person that tells the story, the “voice” of the film.

 

HOW:

Setting                                      The time and the place in which the film takes place.

Plot                                            All the events that make up the film.

Sub-plot                                   A side story, less important than the main story or the plot.

Conflict                                     Oppositions between characters, ideas or interests in the film.

Main conflict                           The most important challenge the protagonist have to overcome.

Resolve                                     Find a solution, to a conflict for instance

Structure                                  How the film is organized and told, in what order things happen.

Chronological                         When the film starts at the beginning of the story and

                                                ends at the  end of the story.

Flashback                                 A scene that shows what has happened earlier, before

                                                 the story  of the film.                                                 

WHY:

Interpret                                   To decide what the meaning of the film is.

Message                                   The idea or point that the film is trying to make.

Summarize                              To give a summary, a shortened version, of the full story.

Theme                                       The main idea, message or moral of the film.

 

10. Here you can practise the words: Filmbegrepp

 

11. Visit https://edpuzzle.com and do the exercise ”Interview with Nick Vujicic”. REMEMBER TO LOG IN!

Afterwords – talk to a friend about your thoughts.

 

Good luck! See you online!